How dogs became a house pet

Dogs are a man’s best friend (and a woman’s for that matter), and they are the most popular household pets in the world. What is it that has made dogs such good companions over the years, and how did they first come to be pets? Well, this is what we’re going to be looking at in the following article to shine a light on the background of our four-legged friends.

If you have a household pet, there’s a good bet you have a dog of some description, and there are many different dogs to choose from. You can get them from a young age, or as a more mature animal; some people have them for protection, others for companionship. Let’s look a little closer at just how dogs became domesticated.

Speculation

Scientists have spent centuries and longer arguing over the origins of domesticated dogs. There seems to be an ever-changing debate about how, when, and why these furry friends became our pets. One thing is certain – dogs are canines, and the only other animal known top contribute to their lineage is the gray wolf. |In fact, it has been speculated that humans were first drawn to wolf pups because they were so cute and furry, and they claimed them as their own. This seems pretty logical, as some of the puppies we’ve seen are among the most adorable creatures ever.

Domestication

When a species is domesticated, it means that it has a relationship with humans, and they are responsible for its care and reproduction. Now, the time at which dogs actually became domesticated is unclear, though we do know Darwin had a lot to say about domestication. We also know that dogs were the first domesticated animals, and, without them, we would have no other forms of domestication. There is speculation that dog domestication first occurred around the time of the first Ice Age, i.e., around 32,000 years ago.

Evolution

Like all animals, dogs have evolved and changed over the years, and their domestication plays a big role in that. The dog is thought to have been a descendent of the Eurasian gray wolf, but Darwin postulated that dogs could have had more than one ancestor, due to the sheer volume of breeds. These days there are simply hundreds of different types of domestic dogs, and cross-breeding has opened up a niche in rare dog breeds.

While there is some debate about the exact time in which dogs became domesticated, as well as the origins of their evolution, it’s pretty evident dogs have been man’s loyal companion for thousands of years. Through cross-breeding, we are able to enjoy more breeds than ever before, and dogs may even evolve again in the future. But it seems pretty clear they are going to stay as our favorite household pets for quite some time.